Wednesday, April 30, 2008

DVD Review: "Prom Night"

Just a quick review of the original 1980 slasher "Prom Night."

Pros: The film stars the quintessential scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis. Maybe it's residual love for "Halloween", but I just like her in these roles. Also, Leslie Nielson has a small role as her father. And that's about it.

Cons: For a horror movie, this film is a bit light on the horror. The first murder doesn't even happen until 1:01:08. That's over an hour into the film before the first teen virgin meets her demise.

Secondly, the film is terribly dated. I don't mean that the effects aren't good, or that the acting is cheesy. I mean that this film is as dated as disco-- literally. The one glaring negative of this film is the way that disco music/dancing are shoehorned into the film. At one point a dancing scene, containing absolutely no dialogue, goes on for nearly six minutes. That's too much disco, even for 1980.

Overall: The film was simply not as creepy or scary as I'd remembered. That may have something to do with the fact that I remember the sequel "Prom Night 2: Hello Mary-Lou" much clearer. That one was on the Prism channel quite often during my youth. Anyhow, as a fan of the horror genre, I guess this is a must-see. And even though it's just okay, it's certainly better than the godforsaken "remake."

Score: 2 out of 5

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